The south room was large with a high ceiling. Again, there were no frills nor flounces, and just the minimum of furniture. Elvira was seated on a cream sofa plainly upholstered and free of cushions, but as soon as I entered, she stood up, smoothing down her dress and patting her hair into place before greeting me.

‘It is good to see you again, Zillah. I take it you know now what it is you would have me do?’

Straight to the point. I liked that. She led me to a table and gestured for me to pull out a chair.

‘I never quite feel comfortable discussing matters of import sitting on a sofa,’ she said. ‘Please excuse me for one moment.’

When she returned, she wore a pair of gold-wired spectacles and carried something heavy in her hands, a sloping wooden object whose purpose I wasn’t sure of. She settled it down on the tabletop and sat directly behind it.

‘This is my writing box, Zillah. See, here is the compartment for the ink and the paper. I find myself writing a lot of letters for my causes, so this box has become my constant recourse.’

Neat and tidy as she was, I could see what looked like ink stains on her fingers. The role I had in mind for her was probably more practical than she was used to. The maid came in with a tray of tea things, the same woman as had answered the door. It seemed ridiculous that Elvira would have only the one, but I wasn’t impertinent enough to ask her about it. Not yet anyway. She’d noticed me looking, though.

‘That’s Ethel,’ she said. ‘I might have mentioned her when we met last week?’

I nodded. She had and I’d been intrigued.

‘I took her in when her parents threw her out,’ Elvira said. ‘She was let down by a gentleman and now she helps me in my work. She’s as much a companion as anything else. We have no secrets. I told her you were coming to us with an opportunity. Now, when we were at Exeter Hall I believe I misspoke when I said you were one of Marcus Crillick’s maids?’

‘It was as a maid that I attended Crillick’s party, but …’ I paused, not wanting to come out with it, but hearing what she’d hinted about Ethel I took a chance that she wouldn’t judge me. ‘I was close to his friend, Viscount Woodward.’

‘Vincent? I knew him well once,’ Elvira said. ‘I’ve not seen much of him since he moved to London. I am not enamoured of the company he keeps now. Perhaps the less said of him the better. Now, what do you have planned?’